On (not) Working and Popular Discourse

I hear people talk about how people want "free stuff" from the government all the time. Every time I indicate that, for example, healthcare or college tuition is exorbitantly expensive and either the state or federal government can and should do something about it, I am generally greeted with a response along the lines of "well, the government shouldn't have to provide everything for you." (Note, this is generally from the lips of a Baby Boomer, who paid for health insurance that was less expensive than county taxes and paid their college tuition with money earned at their summer jobs, but I digress).

Anyway, I saw an interesting map today on Vox and thought I'd share it:

When we talk about who is not working, I think this map is important to bear in mind (darker areas equate to more joblessness; map on the left is 1980, map on the right is 2015). Please note that the joblessness in this country is concentrated principally in four main areas: Appalachia, the Confederacy, the Southwest, and the rural Northwest.

I can't help but notice that joblessness is not concentrated all that much in the major metro areas but instead in areas that are, generally, more rural. I think this is to be expected, given the shift to automation in the past generation. Nonetheless, I found the distribution of those not working to be enlightening.

Any thoughts on why workforce participation in these areas is so low?